Tokyo Tony

I love some of their music, and I can't stand some of it. I'm sure if I dropped a few tabs I'd love the stuff that doesn't make any sense to me though.

The Chatterbait is one of my go-to baits. For those of you who haven't had much success with them, IMO you just didn't give them a fair shot. They were my top producer this fall, slow-rolling them along the bottom. They're also great in early spring before there's too much vegetation. Lastly, they are by far my most productive night fishing lure. Nothing beats the vibration and profile of a black/blue Chatterbait at night. I thought they were really stupid when I first saw them, and my brother was using them spring of 2007 as I hounded him for using such a stupid lure. Well he caught his PB (6 lbs) that day, along with two other fish over 4 in those two hours. Needless to say, I had one tied on by the end of that short trip, and I've never looked back.

"Fritz here with the Slap Chop" - funny name for a product by the way. I don't know if he thinks he's full of crap - those products seem pretty legit, actually. And to be honest, at least some of the Billy Mays products I've seen seem legit. It's the late-night infomercials you have to watch out for. There are some products that are total crap. I think this Fritz guy is actually being sarcastic and making fun of the stereotypical infomercials. No way he's being serious. Although you get the free cheese grater, at least they don't say, "But WAIT! Call in the next ten minutes and we'll cut the price in half and DOUBLE your order!" like in every single commercial for a crappy product. Instead, he sarcastically says, (I paraphrase obviously) "You'll get the cheese grater free if you call in the next ten minutes, because you know we can't just do this all day."

LOL I saw this commercial during Lindner's Angling Edge. I think the guy is absolutely hilarious. I love the totally unnecessary headset. If I came out with a product, this guy would be first on my list for a commercial. Although he's ridiculous, he really does make the products look great, and no one forgets the commercials.

SuskyDude - you should rename this thread "The Philosophy of Pizza" ;D

I tried that last year and look what happened to the economy. ;D

3/8 oz Terminator T-1 spinnerbait, silver/blue/red skirt and Gammy trailer hook. Very close second was 1/2 oz black/blue Chatterbait.

I remember reading an article about that rig, and even after watching that video, my opinion is the same - it's ridiculous. Leave it up to the Japanese ;D

I could be wrong here, or I at least guarantee that die-hard trout enthusiasts will disagree, but I don't think color matters with inline spinners. I usually use some combination of gold or silver with white or yellow or blue or red. I haven't noticed a difference. Even if it does make a difference, I'm not sure that anyone could define the conditions in which a certain color would work better than the next. It all comes down to experimentation, and results that come from experimentation are anything but scientific since there's no way to control the variables properly. Just use something that looks kinda like a minnow.

If you're fishing around weeds and heavier cover, I'd stay away from ML. If you're fishing in relatively open water, I say go for it. It will be more fun that way. Don't forget - you can find a ML rod with a fast action, so as long as you're thinner-wire hooks, for the most part, you'll still be able to get a good hookset. A ML fast action spinning rod is one of the next pieces of equipment on my list.

Where's Connecticut on that list? Can you imagine the commotion if a new WRB came from a northern state? Obviously it would have to be some kind of radioactive, mutated freak of nature, but I think that would be hilarious. I voted CA, but there are some good arguments for TX/Mexico/Cuba.

I'm coping, I guess, but it's tough. Bass fishing is a distant memory. I just hope spring comes soon. A crappy thing about this winter is that, since early December, we've had stretches of warm days with rain that I was sure would melt the ice enough to fish, but then it gets super cold and the ponds freeze up immediately. All of the snow, then rain and warm days, have made the water level in my trout rivers higher than I've ever seen it, which results in poor trout fishing conditions. Last winter at this time I was trout fishing every weekend, but now I just have no desire to trout fish at all. I figure if I can get through 2.5 more months of this crap, it will all be worth it. Nothing like the excitement of early spring fishing up north

Jessica Biel really has "blossomed" since her 7th Heaven days, and she was hot back then (mind you, I was her age when that show was playing, so this comment is not as sick as it seems). As for Click, I thought it was sub-par and depressing. I thought Spanglish was pretty good. Sandler needs to come up with better serious movie facial expressions. That is, get rid of the stale, half-smile that's always there.

Me neither And it was really tough not having one when I was out drinking this weekend. My gums are sore from all the Nicorette I demolished, but the ole' lungs are feelin' quite fine. I almost hate admitting that I'm trying to quit as a New Year's resolution just because it's so cliche, but whatever.

SuskyDude - it's hard to argue with that. I have to agree with you. Although some may disagree, think of it this way: if you were to combine two of the three ingredients and omit one, which meal would be the least flavorful? It has to be the crust with cheese right? Sauce and cheese, although you would have to eat it with a spoon, would still be pretty delicious, and crust and sauce would also be delicious (like breadsticks). Moz cheese on a crust could still be delicious, but not as flavorful as the first two combinations

Nice fish man. Gotta love catching bass on topwater in January, I would think.

I don't see how a gigantic bass cruising the shallows for the first time since winter can pass up a large MS Slammer slowly waking just under the surface. However, I don't have any experience with big swimbaits. You're a step ahead of me - I still need to stock up. I will be out there this spring throwing big slammers and Hudds.

Paul youre too humble. I dont care where you fish it takes some serious skill to trick and land those fish. By the way this is my first post from [my friends] iPhone. This thing is ridiculous

From one Tony to another, welcome ;D Actually, my real name is not Tony, but you're the first other member I've seen here with that name. And if 84 means you were born in 84, well, me too. If you have a canal that has bass in it, they'll eat. What's the temperature where you are?

For New England trout, I highly recommend Lucky Craft suspending jerkbaits, size 65 (especially Ghost Minnow, American Shad, & Chartreuse Shad). They are my go-to lure for wintertime trout fishing (I don't really target trout when there isn't ice on the lakes). My other favorite, in addition to inline spinners, is a 1/8 oz jighead with a 3" Power Minnow (black back, silver/white sides). This is a great lure for catching winter trout that are lazing around in the bottoms of deep pools.

"In August of 2003 a new high-resolution sonar map of the bottom of Yellowstone Lake showed a bulge, or "inflated plain" there that was 2000 feet long and 100 feet high. Was it being pushed up by hydrothermal or even volcanic forces?" Who cares what caused it - it sounds like a decent piece of structure ;D P.S. I went on a snowmobiling trip through Yellowstone a few years ago that was just beautiful. There are restrictions on speed and emissions so we weren't going crazy, but the amount, quality, and beauty of the wildlife there is just unbelievable. Elk and bison everywhere. P.P.S. There's no use worrying about the eruption. There's nothing we can do to prevent it, and we'll be screwed if it happens, so why worry?

One thing is for sure: you shouldn't try new lures for the first time when the bite is tough. That's a great way to lose confidence in a potentially great bait, and I think it's a major reason a lot of people have a couple go-to baits from which they never veer. When I'm trying a brand-new bait I know nothing about, I try to use it when the bite is on just to get it through my brain that the thing is capable of tricking a fish. Once I have confidence in it, then I'll experiment with it on tougher days. But generally, when the bite is tough, I'll stick to my couple confidence baits (jig, senko, chatterbait/spinnerbait).

Hey bait monkey - now that we have the spell check feature maybe you could try using it once in a while ;D You be safe too - take it easy with the bananas.

A little off topic, but in the winter once my ponds are frozen I do a lot of trout fishing because the rivers stay unfrozen. In the slower areas ice will accumulate, and I've noticed that often trout gather under the edges of the ice and eat the bugs that get pushed up against it, especially after a hatch. On the other hand, I don't know if fishing iced areas would be best for bass. I would tend to go to the warmest, ice-free areas first, but you never know.

Here's a little brown trout I caught Christmas day. Don't know why I took a picture of it, but now I'm glad I did...did I win??? ;D